More than a decade ago, long before she became a UMass-Boston student athlete, a then 9-year-old Fallon found herself hovering around on the backyard ice-rink in Pembroke her father had built.

More often that not, this is where she would be if it was the right time of year and she had the free time.

On one particular day, Fallon found herself skate-to-stake with an unlikely challenger: her father’s friend, who was in his late 30s.

What likely began as a casual, playful game quickly morphed into a David-and-Goliath-esque struggle that found the grown-up desperately trying to save face.

The athletically gifted Fallon was skating circles around the man, more than holding her own.

With frustration building, the man decided it would be a good idea to body check Samantha into the boards.

Fallon’s father immediately called the contest off. Staying true to character, however, the fearless Samantha insisted that she keep playing and was granted her wish.

Not holding back, Fallon flung her body into her challenger, sending him flying over the boards.

“He hurt something and had to get of the ice,” she recalled. “After that my dad was like, ‘That’s my girl. what they give you, give it to them right back.’”

Seeking a challenge

After spending years practicing on the backyard rink, Fallon moved up to Pembroke High. Shortly after her sophomore year, Fallon decided she wanted more of a challenge, both athletically and academically, and took her talents to Southfield School in Brookline.

Said Fallon: “I knew a lot of people who had played at prep schools and they had good experiences out of it. The hockey was much more challenging.”

It was here where she repeated her sophomore year and then completed junior year. Ultimately, however, the 60- to 90-minute commute took a toll and another change was made.

Fallon transferred to Williston-Northampton, a boarding school in Weston.

The transition was perfect for the then senior, who avoided a long commute while continuing to play against elite competition.

“The move to a boarding school helped the transition to college,” she said. “It gave me a little more independence from my parents and the hockey got even better than my previous school.”

However, the constant switching did have its downsides.

“College coaches weren’t able to see me in all three schools,” said Fallon. “It was hard to get recruited and noticed being a senior at a high school that I went to for one year.”

Page 2 of 3 - One coach who did manage to keep an eye on Fallon was UMass-Boston head coach Colleen Harris.

College beckons

The decision to attend UMB was not a hard one for Fallon.

‘‘I looked at my mom and said, ‘This is absolutely where I want to go,’” Fallon said on the day of her tour of the campus. “It was one of those gut feelings you get.”

Aside from the convenience of being 45 minutes from home, Fallon was sold on the UMB coaching staff’s commitment to not only shaping their recruits as athletes, but as members of society.

“Our coaches want us to win,’’ Fallon said, ‘‘but they repeat over and over that what they really want us to take out of this is to be better people.’’

An injury to a UMB defenseman in Fallon’s freshman season left the team thin at the position. Willing to do whatever her coaches needed, Fallon left her natural position at forward and played defense.

The highlight of Fallon’s year turned out to be a pair of game-deciding goals against one of the best teams in the ECAC, Manhattanville.

UMB finished the regular season 9-14-14, winning the first round of the ECAC East tournament as the No. 5 seed before being eliminated by No. 2 Manhattanville.

Down 2-1, Fallon went to dump the puck into Manhattanville territory. After a quick flick of the wrist, Fallon wheeled around and skated back to her team’s bench for a line change.

Somewhere between the red line and the bench, however, things got weird.

Said Fallon: “My coach was looking at me and I didn’t understand what was going on.”

It turned out that Fallon’s clearance shot had slipped past the Manhattanville goalie and into the net. Fallon had scored her first collegiate goal without even trying.

While her first goal may have been a fluke, Fallon wasted no time getting on the board again, scoring her second career goal roughly 10 minutes later.

Tied at 2-2, one of Fallon’s teammates curled around the net and passed the puck in front of the crease, hoping for a one-timer from a waiting teammate.

The intended target had her stick up, however, and the puck glided down ice toward Fallon, who was at the point.

Fallon set her sights on the near post, coiled her body and sent the puck down the ice into the bottom right corner of the net to make it a 3-2 game.

Page 3 of 3 - The Beacons ended up winning, 5-3.

“I’m a freshman in college, and I just scored the leading goal against Manhattanville,” Fallon recalled of the moment that she realized she had the ability to thrive.

Hitting her stride

Fallon hit her stride in this past season’s sophomore campaign. She switched back to forward and led team in points (16 goals, 3 assists).

“I know I’ve gotten a lot of goals this year, but it’s mostly because of my team,” Fallon said. “I can’t even explain how we came together. We had a lot of talent this year, four lines. A lot of teams had two, maybe three, but we could roll four lines confidently.

On March 1, the team again was in the ECAC semifinals, this time against Norwich University. UMB lost, 2-1, in overtime after tying the game with a little less than 2 minutes to go in regulation.

With the offseason recently under way, Fallon plans to spend the next few months training for her junior year. Things look especially promising for the Beacons, who will boast a whopping 18 upperclassmen, including 14 seniors.

While she will not be one of the many seniors listed on the roster opening day, Fallon still hopes to assume a leadership role, where she feels that she will be able to contribute toward her team’s quest for a championship.

“I’ll do whatever I need to do on the ice; goals, assists, or even just playing defense. Whatever the coaches want me to do. But to just make sure everybody has the head in the game is my main priority.

“Hopefully we’ll bring a championship back for not only for ourselves and our seniors, but for the past seniors, alumni and coaches,” she said. “They made this program.”